5 Hints for Writing a Resume When You’re Just out of College

You must be very excited to finish college and explore the corporate world, and as you may have guessed, the first thing that will come in handy to you after graduating from college is to write your resume qualitatively. You must be eager to immerse yourself in a work environment to apply the skills acquired in school. Well, there’s a lot involved, but we got you covered. Like it or not, the first thing you need a fresh, catchy resume, even though you may have little work experience so far.
If you’re always wondering why you didn’t get that job interview or why you weren’t selected for a particular program, then wonder no more. If you are worried about the unemployment rate and how it may affect you, it is noteworthy to know that the unemployment rate for graduates with a bachelor’s degree is 4% lesser than the average nationally at 8.1%. In fact, a research conducted in 2011 showed that the unemployment rate for recent graduates between 20 and 29 years of age was 12.6%, this had been narrowing over the years.
There are usually two conventional approaches for fresh graduates in writing a resume. The first approach is the most common, and it involves, beginning with an objective followed by the educational details followed by skills as well as job experience. The second approach involves coming up with a list of the skills and the training at the beginning and then the experiences afterward.

Here are hints on writing a winning resume:

1. Have a Career Objective

Begin your resume by writing your career objective.
When you are just out of college, you may not have your career all figured out. It takes some time for you to explore available opportunities to finally channel a way for yourself. However, you can give a general overview of your career objective at this stage. This does not mean that you be vague about it. No! Just state a clear objective that doesn’t cut you too slim and thus prevent you from getting other opportunities. For example, you can state that you would like to take up a management position, at entry-level in the food industry. Be sure to match your objective with the job description.

2. Education Details

List your educational qualification

Here, you can list the school that you attended, the year you graduated and with what qualification as well as the grade average, only if it is high. This is usually a bit different for experienced people as they can list their educational qualifications towards the end of their resume.
If you have some coursework that is relevant to the objectives of your career or the kind of job you are seeking, then you can list it. For example, if you studied law, and majored in international law, and that is the area you would like to explore in your career, then be sure to mention it as it will give you an added advantage.

3. More on your Coursework

Other than your major, you can mention a number of other coursework details if you find that they are relevant to the career you would like to pursue and is different from your major. This helps in giving the potential employer a clear picture of what you can offer.

List other relevant course works you did in college other than your major.

4. Don’t Underestimate any Job Experience

Mention all the jobs you have done so far

Have you overlooked a specific job experience and omitted it from the list because you think it is too menial to mention? Well, you should seriously reconsider. Most of the jobs that you pass off as too low level may quite appealing to the potential employers. They go to show how committed you are, disciplined and resourceful among other good qualities. So next time you want to sweep that babysitting job under the carpet, remember the employer may be thinking, wow! Now that can be a great care provider and actually run a baby daycare business. Or it may be that online writing job, which has improved your writing skills, for instance, how to write a conclusion paragraph. The employer can see a lot of potential in you!
It is also advisable to expound on the job experience to give a clearer picture of what your role was, thus giving a clearer picture of the qualities that you have.

5. Do More For the Extra-curricular Activities

Mention your extra-curricular activities

We often tend to think that it’s only the jobs that we’ve had or the internships that we’ve gone through that matter to the employer. Well, this is far from the truth. Potential employers also seek out to find out what other activities you were engaged in as it gives a deeper view of the values that you hold dear and the leadership qualities that you possess, all of which are relevant in the job world.
So whether it’s the club you participated in or sports, be keen to list it and expound more on it to bring out the relevant experience. For example, you may have been a soccer captain; this will go to show that you can lead a team and also work well in a team.

Writing a resume when you are right out of college need not be stressful. Even if you have little job experience, with these hints, you will be able to give more information about the jobs that you’ve done in a manner that will reveal your abilities sufficiently. The same goes for extra-curricular activities. You should also note that some of the coursework we do in college can equate to a job experience as it may involve a lot of research and actually practical work in a particular industry. Fresh college graduates are set to enjoy the best of the job markets as recent research shows, with 1.9 million expected to graduate and employers expected to employ 5% more this year.